Slicer.



No. 744,107. Y PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903. E. s. REGNIBR.

SLIGER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1900.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H0 MODEL.

No. 744,107. I PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.

B. s. REGNIER. V

SLIGER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10, 1900.

N0 MGDBL. v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W'li EEEEE UNITED V STATES Iliatented November 17, 1903.

PATENT Prion.

EUGENE S. REGNIER, OF GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOLOUISA M. RICHARDS, OF GALESBURG, ILLINOIS.

SLICER.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters Patent no. 744, 107, datedNovember 17, 1903. Application filed February 10, 1900. Serial No.4,743. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE S. Rnonrnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at 235 South Whitesboro street, Galesburg, in the county ofKnox and-State of Illinois, have invented cerlain newand usefulImprovements in Slicers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devicesespecially designed for slicing vegetables, fruits, 850., such aspotatoes, cucumbers, apples, and the like; but it is especially adaptedfor slicing potatoes into novel forms for frying or for making: Saratogachips, whereby a new product of both domestic and commercial value isproduced.

The primary object of this invention is to enable the production of aslice, whether of vegetable or fruit, that will be novel and ornamentalin appearance, that will expose the maximum superficial area, whether itbe intended for cooking or drying, and that will not pack or mat whilecooking or drying,-

whereby it insures the thorough cooking or drying of each slice of abatch and the production of a product novel both in shape and apearance,as well as in characteristics;

Another object of my invention is to enable the production of eitherperforated or imperforate, fluted, or corrugated slices, as may bedesired, at the same cost both of time and material, with no loss of thevegetable or fruit being sliced and with no more labor or skill than isinvolved in the production of plain slices by theslicers now com monlyemployed.

Another object is the ready production of corrugated or flutedimperforate slices haw;

ing their opposite faces parallel or perforated slices having theiropposite faces corrugated or fluted at an angle to each other,manipulating the vegetable upon the slicer in one or another of twoways, as hereinafter described.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythe devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- .v v

Figure l isa plan view of a slicer embodyin'g myinvention in itspreferred form. ,Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section thereof. Fig.3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 33 0mg. 1. Fig. 4. is aView similar a Fig. 3, but taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is aview similar to Fig.2, but showing the guide-board reversed or inverted.Fig. 6 is'a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the guide board in the actof being reversed. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing afixed guide-board. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Figs. 9 and 10 aredetail diagrammatic views'of different forms of cutters; and Figs. 11and 12 are plan views-of different kinds of slices, showing twodififerent products.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same partsin the severalfigures of the drawlugs.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates the sidebars, and B the handle connecting the same at one end and constitutingthe frame of the slicer, the ends of the bars A opposite the handlebeing permanently connected by a rigid cutterboard G, all of the partsso far described being preferably composed of wood, because of thecheapness, lightness, and strength thereof. The upper surface of thecutter-board, however, is corrugated and has rigidly secured thereto acorrugated cutter D, which is made of sheet metal of uniform thicknessthroughout. The corrugations of the cutter cor-respond with and fit intothe corrugations ofthe cutter-board, and preferably the cutter projectssome distance beyond the front edge of the cutter-board, the latterbeing preferablycut away,as. shown in Fig. 2, to permit the more readyescape of the slices without contacttherewith.

Forward of the cutter-board is located a guide-board E, betweeutheframe-bars A, to which said board is either rigidly or pivotallysecured,- the preferable construction being the pivoted constructionshown in Figs. 1 to .6,inclusive. Oneside ofthis guide-board say theside F--.is a, flat. or plane surface, while the other side thereof, G,is corrugated or fiutedto correspond with the corrugations or flutes inthecutter D, the corrugations or flutes in the guide-board being sodisposed that the projected surface of the guide-board is parallel withthe corrugations of the cutter considered in cross-section, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 4. It will therefore be obvious that with thiscorrugated working surface of the guide-board uppermost after the firstor outside cut is made each slice of the vegetable or fruit will takethe corrugated or fluted shape and dimensions of the space between theprojected working surface of the guideboard and the under surface of thecutter, it being understood that the vegetable or fruit in the act ofslicing will be held in the hand length bet-ween the side bars A bymeans of the bolt H, which is headed at one end of the side bars and isscrew-threaded at its opposite end, which projects through andsufficiently beyond the other side bar to receive a thumb-nut I, bymeans of which the guideboard can be squeezed sufficiently tight betweenthe side bars to hold it securely in any adjusted position during use.The purpose of having the guide-board pivoted is that it may be readilyinverted, so as to bring uppermost either its corrugated or its planesurface; I have already stated the use of the corrugatedsurface of theguide-board, and it will of course be understood that by a properadjustment of the vertical space between the opposing edge of this boardand the cutter the thickness of the slice produced thereby may beadjusted and determined. The appearance of the slice in edge view asproduced with the corrugated side of the guide-board up will be similarto the space between said corrugated side of the guide-board and thecutter, as seen in Fig. 4. A plan view of the slice thus produced isshown in Fig. 11. In producing this corrugated or fluted slice thecorrugations formed in the lower surface of the vegetable by the cutterfit the corresponding corrugations on the guide-board, which latter thusserve to guide the vegetable in its movements back and forth over theguideboard as the vegetable is repeatedly forced against the cutter, itnot being intended in this operation that the vegetable should berotated upon an axis perpendicular to the surface of the guide-board,but that it should be always moved back and forth With the same side tothe front, thus producing upon opposite sides of the slice parallelgrooves and ribs, which gives to the slice a corrugated or fluted shape,with its opposite faces parallel, the slice of course being imperforateand of whatever thickness desired, its diameter being of coursedetermined by the size of the vegetable or fruit being sliced.

To produce the perforated slice shown in Fig. 12, it is necessary topartially rotate the vegetable being sliced upon an axis perpendicularto the surface of the guide-board, so

teams that the grooves or corrugations upon one face of the slice willextend across the same at an angle to the grooves in the other face ofthe slice, this partial rotation taking place after each out. If thevegetable is turned a complete quarter, so that the corrugations on oneside are exactly at a right angle to the corrugations in the other side,with a cutter having curved corrugations the perforations produced willbe substantially circular,

.as shown in Fig. 12; but if the rotationof the vegetable be such as toform the grooves at any angle less than a right angle the perforationsin the slice will be more or less elongated or elliptical, according tothe degree of angularity between the corrugations on the oppositesurface of the slices. The perforations in the slice are due to the factthat the grooves in each side of the slice extend beyond the medianline, or, in other words, to adepth more than one-half of the distancebetween the crowns of the ridges on the opposite sides of the slice, andthis in turn is due to the fact that the cutter and guideboard are sodisposed with relation to each other that the plane of the workingsurface of the guide-board and a second plane touching the lowest pointsof the corrugations at the cutting edge of the cutter are separated by adistance which is less than the depth of the said corrugations. If theyare separated by a greater space, the result will be a slice corrugatedon opposite sides, but without perforations, and if they are notseparated by any space the result will be strips if the plain surface ofthe guide-board is uppermost and the plane of its projected workingsurface intersects the cutting edge of the cutter. Under any otherconditions there would be no product at all. Another peculiarity in theconstruction and relations of the cutter and guide-board is that theprojected working surface of the guide-board and the under surface ofthe cutter are parallel or substantially parallel in any plane cuttingthem and parallel with the corrugations of the cutter. This relation ofthe parts is important where perforated slices are to be produced,because it avoids bending the slices to any considerable extent, andbending them upon the lines of their corrugations would tend to breakthem and would in many instances do so. Having cut one slice, if thevegetable be given a quarter-turn and presented to the cutter for makinganother slice the corrugations of the first cut would fall parallel withthe end of the cutter, and if the under side of said cutter were at anabrupt angle to the projected working surface of the guide-board theslice would be bent upon the lines of the corrugations in its under sideand in many instances thereby broken. Another feature of the cutterwhich tends to avoid bending the slices is the parallelism of its upperand lower surfaces due to its being made of a sheet of metal of uniformthickness throughout. To facilitate the production of these perforatedICC slices, I prefer to use the guide-board with its plane sideuppermost, as shown in'Fig. 5. With this side of the g uideboarduppermost when the corrugated lower face of the vegetable is broughtback onto the guide-board it may be partially rotated freely in eitherdirection thereon, because there are no corrugations on this face of theguide-board to be engaged by the corrugations on the under side of thevegetable in contact therewith, and hence it is very easy for a merenovice with the plane side of the board uppermost to produce sliceshaving grooves at various angles and with various-shaped openingstherein, and, in fact, with the ordinary working of the apparatus itwould be quite difficult to produce two slices exactlyalike, and,indeed, such a product is not especially desirable.

As an additional, though not essential, feature I provide a stop tolimit the swinging of the guide-board upon its pivot by means of a pinJ, fastened to and projecting from the side of the guide-board near oneend thereof, which pin is adapted andv arranged to engage grooves K, cutin the inner face of one of the side bars in proper position to receivethe pin, the pin entering one of the grooves when the board is in oneposition and entering the other grooves when in the reversed position.When in one groove, it serves to limit the downward tilting of the boardwith relation to the cutter and when in the other groove it serves tolimit the upward tilting of the board. I have also found in practicethat the best results will he obtained by having the guideboard sodisposed with relation to the cutter that its upper surface will alwaysincline slightly upward toward the cutter in whatever position it may beadjusted for cutting slices from the maximum to the minimum thickness,as by having this angularity between the cutter and the guide-board thecutter appears to work better, the slices are produced with a moreuniform thickness from the front to the rear edge thereof and appear toclear the cutter more efiectually, thus reducing to the minimum thedifficulty of slicing and enabling the rapid and satisfactory handlingof the slicer by the merest novice.

In practice I have found that it is not absolutely essential that theguide-board should be either adjustable or reversible, but that a fixedguide-board will produce the same products as those produced with theadjustable and reversible board, but not with the same degree of ease orrapidity or accuracy when used by an unskilled person, for which reasonI prefer the adjustable and reversible guide board hereinbeforedescribed, with which the corrugated surface of the guideboard may beemployed when it is desired to produce simply corrugated im perforateslices, while the plane side of the guide-board may be used when it isdesired to produce the more ornamental perforated slices.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a slicer in all respects identical with thatpreviously described, excepting that the guide-board E is fixed with thecorrugated surface uppermost. With this slicer, notwithstanding thecorrugations in the guide-board, the perforated slices may be producedwith a little care, because the vegetable may be turned either before orafter being brought back onto the guide-board, in which event thecorrugated under surface of the vegetable being cut will ride upon thetops of the corrugations of the guide-board, with the corrugationstherein extending at an angle with those in the guideboard. In this useof the device the tops of the corrugations of the guide-board are theworking surface within the meaning of this term as herein used. Thisslicer is much less expensive than my preferred construction andembodies my invention in its simplest form.

It will be understood, of course, that the exact shape of thecorrugations either in the cutter or the guide-board is immaterial, andsimply for the purpose of illustration I have shown in Figs. 8, 9, and10 three different forms in which they may be made and which of courserepresent the form which the corrugated or fluted slice will take whenproduced thereby.

While I am aware that a corrugated sheet metal cutter, even in avegetable-cutter, is old, I am not aware that it has ever been proposedto employ in connection therewith a guide board, whether fixed oradjustable, having either a plane surface or a corrugated surface andhaving the above-described relations to the cutting edge and undersurface of the cutter. By means of a device having the parts constructedand related as above described I am enabled to produce a variety ofproducts, one, at least, of which (see Fig. 12) is entirely new. Byreason of the corrugations of the slices they will not pack or mattogether, and by reason of their perforations they are especiallyattractive, valuable, and useful for the making of Saratoga chips,because of the thorough and prompt crisping thereof on account of thegreat area instantly exposed to the hot grease. Aside from this they areornamental in appearance, and for this reason especially desirable forsalads, garnishings, fancy dishes, and the like. In drying orevaporating fruit the corrugated and perforated form of slice isparticularly desirable.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure'by Letters Patent, is V 1. In a slicer the combination of acutter, having longitudinal corrugations and a guideboard, said cutterand guide-board being so disposed with relation to each other that theplane of the working surface of the guideboard and a second planetouching the lowest points of the corrugations at the cutting edge IIOIIE

of the cutter, are separated by a distance which is less than the depthof said corrugations, substantially as described.

2. In a slicer the combination of a cutter, having longitudinalcorrugations and aguideboard, having a fiat working surface, said cutterand guide-board being so disposed with relation to each other that theplane of the working surface of the guide-board and a second parallelplane touching the lowest points of the corrugations at the cutting edgeof the cutter, are separated by a distance which is less than the depthof said corrugations, substantially as described.

3. In aslicer the combination of a cutter, having longitudinalcorrugations and having also parallel upper and lower surfaces, and aguide-board, having a flat working surface, said cutter and guide-boardbeing so disposed that the plane of the working surface of theguide-board and a second plane parallel therewith and with the cutterand touching the having longitudinal corrugations, a cutterboard onwhich said cutter is mounted, said cutter-board havingcorrugationscorrespond ing with and fitting in the corrugations of thecutter, the end of the cutter being extended some distance beyond thecutter-board and the cutter and guide-b0ard being so disposed withrelation to each other that the plane of the working surface of theguide-board and a second parallel plane touching the lowest points ofthe corrugations at the cutting edge of the cutter are separated by adistance which is less than the depth of said corrugations,substantially as described.

5. In a slicer the combination of a cutter having longitudinalcorrugations, an invertilole guide-board disposed in operative relationthereto, said guide-board having one of its faces plain and its oppositeface corrugated, and means for fixing the guide-board with either of itsfaces uppermost, substantially as described.

EUGENE S. REGNIER.

Witnesses:

J. F. HAMILTON, G. P. WILLIAMS.

